Well, it seems that we managed to wake up Focus' marketing department.

They have just released five new screenshots of Pro Cycling Manager 2011 (= the PC game, if anyone's in doubt). The main focus seems to be on the new rider model, so ... well, look at it and enjoy.

As always, you can find the screenshots in our PCM11 section along with the new Scandinavian cover that we mentioned earlier today.

Read Focus' press release after the break.

It took a few years for the Norwegians to get a homeland rider on the front of the Scandinavian cover - and it now appears that they are going to have to wait at least one more year.

Due to licensing issues, the Scandinavian publisher, Nordic Game Supply, has decided to replace the image of Hushovd with a different one featuring Alberto Contador in his Saxo Bank jersey.

Life is tough when you're from Norway.

Update: We have added a sheet of information about the game to the screenshots section. You can see it right here.

Cyanide's upcoming console game Tour de France 2011 for XBOX and PS3 has not been officially announced by Focus yet, but luckily for them, we're here to help. We've been in contact with a publisher of the game who've kindly provided us with plenty of information about the upcoming titles.

As expected and previously reported, you will be able to play the 21 Tour de France stages - and that's it. The stages are played in a 1:1 scale, but you will only be able to play the most interesting parts of the stages, e.g. mountains, sprints etc. It's being rumoured that some additional content will become available after the release.

You will not be able to make your own rider. Instead, you will take over an existing rider on an existing team - and you will be able to "switch" riders from stage to stage. For example, you may want to control Petacchi on the flat stages and Scarponi in the mountains.

During the stages, you will be able to communicate with your team-mates (like "attack", "help", "get me some water"), and your team director will also make sure to give you information during the race, e.g. time gaps, distance left etc. It's also important to stay friends with the rest of the peloton. It's possible to form alliances, and if you respect your word, you will gain reputation among the rest of the peloton. It's not mentioned how this works out exactly, but I guess we will know later.

Since it's a console game, there will of course also be plenty of achievements to unlock.

The release? We've previously reported the 16th of June as being the release date, but that appears to be the day where the pre-orders begin. PanVision says that they expect the game to be released on the 30th of June in the Nordic countries (Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland).

And lastly -- want to see it in action? We have a video ready for you, but bear in mind that it's an old video with outdated graphics. The game is said to have progressed a lot since then. (Edit: We decided to remove the video on request from Focus/Panvision)

Previous screenshots have already revealed that features from previous games, e.g. the national / world champion stripes (liseres) on the rider jerseys and the regions of each country, are back in PCM11.

We can add yet another feature to that list: The mud on the riders' jerseys after a long day in Roubaix. I don't remember exactly when this was present in PCM, but it's been included before, and now it's back.

This is revealed thanks to a couple of new screenshots that origin from the Cyclist Viewer that we mentioned a week ago.

You can see the muddy riders here.

Want to see how your jersey looks in-game? But you can't be bothered to actually open the game? Fear not, Cyanide has you covered in PCM11.

A new tool called "Cyclist Viewer App" will be available for everyone who wants to use it. It lets you see what the jersey looks like on the new rider model (like the Shirt Viewer featured on the left-hand side of this website), along with the accessories and equipment.

The screenshots show some of the shirts that have been included as "sponsor" shirts for future teams in PCM11. We've uploaded some of them to our screenshot section, and you can see all 16 screenshots here.